Taiwan President survives assassination attempt

They are one of our best friends in Asia, and tonight, the president and vice president of Taiwan are lucky to be alive, having survived an apparent assassination attempt. President Chen Shui-bian and his deputy, Annette Lu, were shot on Thursday as they campaigned for Saturday’s national election in the city of Tainan, south of the capital Taipei. The Presidential Office said Chen was shot in the stomach while Lu was grazed on the leg by bullets. No arrests were reported and it is not clear who fired on Chen and Lu. A presidential spokesman said Saturday’s national elections would go on as planned, but the ruling Democratic Progressive Party and opposition Kuomintang party had both temporarily suspended their election campaigns. Chen and Lu were riding in the back of a convertible four-wheel drive vehicle when the unknown attacker or attackers opened fire. Video from the parade showed a bullet hole in the windshield of the vehicle. Blood can be seen on the president’s jacket as someone holds a cloth to the bullet wound on the right side of his waist. Both were treated and released from the hospital and are back in Taipei.